


Easter in the Time of Quarantine

by ATTHS_TWICE



Series: Family Life: The Story Beyond the Series [26]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Easter, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Holidays, Home, Post-Season/Series 11, Surprises, Virus, self-quarantine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23620510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATTHS_TWICE/pseuds/ATTHS_TWICE
Summary: In the wake of the Coronavirus, Scully, Mulder, and Faith have self-quarantined in the Unremarkable House. It has been weeks and now Easter has arrived, and with it, some surprises.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: Family Life: The Story Beyond the Series [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1407691
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Easter in the Time of Quarantine

_March 2020_

Scully sat at the dining room table reading some news articles on her phone, her stomach becoming more and more agitated as she did so. Hearing Faith laugh, she looked up and smiled as she watched Mulder building with her soft blocks and then knocking them down. 

Looking back at the article, she sighed and shook her head. Reaching for a pen, she began to make a list of things they would need to buy. There were many items added to it and she sighed as she looked at it, but she knew they would be needed, and possibly for a long time. 

Two pages were filled before she looked up again, watching Mulder and Faith playing, Bella rolling around beside them. He was telling her a story as they built with the blocks and used the dolls from the dollhouses. Scully smiled at them and then sighed, knowing they needed to get up and get moving. 

Standing up, Bella turned around and ran over to her, barking as she wiggled her entire body, looking for some pets. Scully bent down and pet her, scooping her up to bring her back over to Mulder and Faith. 

She sat down and held Bella in her lap, smiling at the two of them as they played. Mulder looked up and smiled at her with a wink. She sighed and he tilted his head. 

“Everything okay?” 

“For now, but we need to do some shopping.” He stared at her and she sighed again. “That Coronavirus, Mulder, it’s… it’s going to be bad. 

“What?” 

“We need to go get some things, stock up on items, and then stay here for a while. We need to self-quarantine.” She stared at him and he looked at Faith, then back at her. She nodded and he exhaled. 

Standing up, he picked up Faith and twirled her around. Scully stood up too, placing Bella in her kennel. He caught Scully’s eye again and she nodded, taking the list out of her pocket. 

“Okay, let’s do this.” 

They left the house, Scully filling him in on the articles she had read. He shook his head, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he exhaled. 

“So, what’s happening? A vaccine?” 

“No. It’s an unknown virus, so we don’t have a known vaccine, not yet. And one wouldn’t be available for a while. Honestly, with this administration, the way it has been presented… I don’t know what to think about anything. It’s best for us to be proactive and preemptive.” 

“Yeah. We should call Skinner. Let him know too. He and Rachel were going to come over in a couple of weeks. If we’re in self-quarantine, it wouldn’t be smart to have them over. Plus, they should know to stock up too,” he said and she nodded in agreement as she reached for her phone. 

They were systematic with their shopping; going to the warehouse center for things like toilet paper, hand soap, hand sanitizer, laundry soap, antibacterial wipes, diapers, wipes, and bottles of water. Large amounts of nonperishable food and some perishables were added, before they moved to another store for other items. 

Baby food, dog food, a couple of boxes of latex gloves and face masks, alcohol, peroxide, bandages, and medicine for both them and Faith. They walked down the holiday aisle and Mulder grabbed random bags of chocolate, smiling at her as he did. She smiled back and reached for a small Easter basket, a pack of plastic eggs, and a pink floppy eared bunny, setting them in the cart for Faith. Just in case. 

Most of the items on the list crossed off, they left the store and headed for home. Faith fell asleep on the way back and they left her in the car as they unloaded it, each of them walking in and out of the house. When they were finished, Mulder took her carefully from the car seat, and brought her upstairs to hopefully stay asleep for a little while. 

He came back downstairs, and took Bella out to pee, before they began to take stock of what they had and what else they would need. They discussed if they should get another refrigerator, just to be safe. 

“If it’s going to be a long time, Scully… I think it might be a good idea. We’ll run out of room in this fridge. Or maybe we upgrade this one and then move the old one to the basement.” 

“I don’t think we need to bother with that, but an extra one in the basement would be a good idea. Something basic. This has really got me worried, Mulder. A virus… if not properly handled… thousands of people could die. Hundreds of thousands.” She shook her head and sighed deeply. He came over and held her, taking a deep breath as they stood quietly, both of them worried. 

As the days progressed, the news was constantly playing in the background. She read many articles, sighing and shaking her head a lot. Things were not being handled properly and she could see the path it was going to take as a result of it. 

They bought that new refrigerator and had it placed in the basement. It was filled with extra frozen foods and perishable items. They had everything they needed, all they could do was wait it out and be sure they were safe. 

Being people who were comfortable at home, and ones who had been in many forced quarantines, they found the time together easy to endure. There were some days though, when they needed some time apart; a nap or a walk separately, and then they would come back feeling better. 

“I’m glad Faith isn’t older and she’s happy and easily entertained with these simple activities,” Scully said one day, as they walked slowly down their road. Faith toddled along, touching flowers and picking up rocks, handing them to Scully with a smile. She smiled back and placed them into her pocket. 

“ _I’m_ glad we don’t have to deal with school activities,” Mulder said with a sigh, holding onto Bella’s leash. 

“Please, we’re both extremely intelligent. We could handle becoming her stand-in teachers for a little while,” she said with a scoff. “We teach her every day as it is.” 

“Yes we do, I know that. But teach her that “new math”? I don’t think so, Scully,” he scoffed back and she laughed. “Seriously, have you seen it? It’s…” He shook his head and she laughed again.

“I think you would be very good at it,” she told him, looping her arm through his. “You see things differently than others, you always have. I’m sure “new math” would be a breeze.” 

“Why thank you, but I’m content that it’s still a few years away. It gives me more time to prepare.” They both laughed and continued on their leisurely daily excursion. 

Coming home, Scully emptied her pockets and set the rocks Faith had collected on their walk into the garden. She smiled as she did, knowing Faith would not remember them, but she would. She would remember this day, this time when things slowed down, and simple pleasures could be found together. 

Dinner was eaten, a bath given, and books read before Faith was put down for the night. They came back downstairs, scrolled through Netflix for what felt like the millionth time, and found nothing that caught their eye. Mulder looked at her and she smiled, the remote cast aside as she climbed into his lap, and pressed her lips to his. 

A new month began and with it more of the same. They did little projects around the house, went for walks, played with Faith, had picnics out in the yard, went for drives to the top of the hill, watching the stars at night and talking about nothing in particular. 

And sex… they had a _lot_ of sex. 

Scully smiled as she watched Bella running around the yard, happy they had gotten the fence put up a couple of months ago. 

“Bell,” Faith said, sitting beside her on the porch, pointing at Bella as Mulder threw the ball for her to chase. 

“Yes, it’s Bella. Daddy and Bella are playing with the ball. It’s a green ball,” Scully answered, putting her arm around her. 

“Bell. Ball.” 

“Good girl. You’re so smart, my love,” she said, lifting her into her lap and holding her close, closing her eyes as she breathed in her baby scent. 

She was hardly a baby anymore, at eighteen months old, but she still thought of her as her baby, even as she changed almost daily. She still saw the big blue-eyed baby girl, who looked at the world in wonder. She knew that would never change; she would always be her baby. 

But, time truly did fly. Even if she wanted to slow it down, it would not. She looked at Faith’s hands, rubbing her small fingers, feeling all the bones under her skin, saying them under her breath from memory. 

“Mama,” Faith said quietly and Scully smiled, wrapping her arms around her, rocking and humming softly. She kissed the top of her head and whispered she loved her. 

Bella came up to the porch, the ball in her mouth, and dropped it down as she sat beside them. Her tongue lolled out as she panted tiredly and Faith laughed, reaching out to touch her head. 

“Bell. Ball,” she said again, and Scully smiled as Bella licked her hand excitedly, her whole body wiggling. 

“They are quite possibly the cutest duo. Aside from us, of course,” Mulder teased with a smile, as he stood at the bottom of the stairs. Scully smiled at him and he winked. “Think I’m gonna go for a run. Is that okay?” 

“Of course,” she said with a nod. “We’re good here.” 

“Great. I’ll go get changed.” He stepped past them and went inside to put on his running clothes. 

“Good. I’m glad he’s leaving. We have something to make for Daddy while he’s gone. It’ll be a nice surprise for Easter tomorrow, my sweet,” Scully whispered in Faith’s ear. “We’ll have to be fast.” 

As Mulder left, kissing them both goodbye, Scully got up and brought Faith and Bella into the house, and closed the door. Setting Faith down on the floor by her toys, she went into the office and opened the closet door, taking out the paper and art supplies she had bought. 

Setting it down on the table, she looked over at Faith who was looking at her books, Bella lying tiredly on her dog bed. Smiling at them, she got the paper ready and then the paints. Picking up Faith, they washed their hands together, bringing the paper towels to the table. 

“Now, we’re going to make something for your Daddy. And it’s going to be a little strange, but we’ll be as fast as we can,” Scully said, as they sat down at the table. 

She picked up a paintbrush and dipped it into the bottle of paint, the color of a blue sky. Holding Faith’s right hand still, she painted her palm, and each finger. Faith tried to close her hand, but Scully kept her hand open, talking soothingly to her as she did. 

“Okay, now, here we go.” She set the paintbrush down, brought the paper closer to them, and pressed Faith’s hand onto the middle of the paper, holding it down tightly. Lifting it slowly, she smiled as she saw the perfect handprint left on the paper. 

“Uh oh,” Faith said, looking at her hand and showing it to Scully, who laughed softly. 

“It’s okay, love. Look, we’ll just wipe it off.” She took some paper towels and wiped her hands clean, to Faith’s great astonishment. “See? All clean. But we aren’t done yet.” 

Picking up a different paintbrush, she painted her little thumb white and pressed it to the paper, near the bottom. Wiping it clean, she painted her other fingers yellow, pressing the four of them, separately, beside the white thumbprint. Smiling, she carried her to the sink and washed her hands, removing any traces of the paint. 

Twirling her around the room, she kissed her cheeks and tickled her, her giggles waking Bella, who stood up to see what all the fuss was about. Setting Faith on the floor, she gave Bella a pet, and handed Faith a book. 

Stepping over to the table, she picked up the paint brushes and took them to the sink to rinse them off. When they were clean, she walked back to the table, dried the paint brushes off and closed up the paints they had used. Putting it all away, she moved the picture to a shelf to dry, a place Mulder would not look. 

Coming back to the kitchen, she washed her hands and got a snack ready for Faith. She brought it over to her, and they sat together on the floor, eating as they played with her toys and read some books. 

Mulder came home a few minutes later, sweaty and happy, heading upstairs for a shower. Scully smiled at Faith, knowing they had a secret for him that he would love when it was ready.

They had dinner, put Faith to bed, and as Mulder cleaned the kitchen, Scully took out the Easter basket she had picked out weeks ago, just in case. She set it on the table and put the pink bunny inside, along with an applesauce pouch, a pack of goldfish crackers, and a couple of the plastic eggs. 

“Hide them inside or outside?” she asked as she turned to Mulder. He dried his hands and smiled as he walked over to her, pulling her in for an embrace. 

“Quarantine be damned, we’re having Easter,” he said with a chuckle. 

“You’re goddamn right. We need to celebrate the holidays, even if it’s only a small celebration,” she responded and he nodded. 

“You’re right. I think inside would be best. It will either rain or be hot, so I think inside would be good.”

“Okay. Here,” she said, handing him half of the eggs, and they happily set about hiding them in places Faith could find them. 

“You know, when I was younger and we dyed eggs, I always loved watching the tablet combine with the water and vinegar, the smell of it to this day, tied to those memories,” she said with a smile, remembering the sound of the tablet fizzing. 

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he said with a smile of his own. “The woman who became a scientist, enjoyed watching a chemical reaction? Shocking.” She threw an egg at him and he laughed, placing it on the floor by the television. 

“What was your favorite color of dye?” he asked and she smiled. 

“Blue. I liked that it was so dark, you didn’t really know what color it was until you scooped it onto the spoon,” she said, thinking about those days of crowding around the table with coffee mugs full of dye, with a spoon in each one. 

“A spoon? Didn’t you use that little egg hook thing?” 

“One egg hook thing? Or even two? For four children?” She looked at him with her eyebrows raised and he laughed. 

“Point taken,” he said, hiding the last egg as she did the same. 

“Next year… next year we can dye eggs, but not this year,” she said with a sigh. 

“No. This year would not be wise. Her age and the need for uncooked eggs.” 

“Yeah,” she sighed again. 

“Hey,” he said softly and she looked up at him. He smiled and she nodded. 

“I know. I’m okay.” 

He came over and wrapped his arms around her, both of them holding onto one another and sighing. 

“It’s going to be okay. We’re safe, well supplied, no need to go out for a while, and we have protective covering for when we do,” he murmured into her hair and she nodded, holding him tight. Pulling back, she looked up at him and he smiled, bending his head to kiss her lips. 

“Come on, let’s finish up anything down here and head to bed.” 

“You go on up, there isn’t anything really to do down here,” she said, stepping back and looking around. 

“Scully…”

“I want to send Louise an email and see how she’s doing. I know she’s with Marcus, but just wanted to check in and send her a few new pictures of Faith,” she told him with a smile. 

“No news articles,” he warned her with his eyebrows raised and she nodded, stepping close and kissing him again. 

“No. I promise.” 

“Okay then." He smiled and squeezed her hand. 

“I won’t be long,” she assured him and he nodded as he went upstairs. 

When he was gone, she went into the office and opened the laptop, intent on actually sending Louise an email on top of her plan for Mulder’s gift. Typing out the email and selecting a couple of pictures, she sent it off with a smile. 

Sticking to her promise, she closed the laptop and listened to hear if Mulder had come back downstairs. Finding it quiet, she took down the picture she had made with Faith, and set it on the desk. 

With a green marker, she added a stem and petals to the blue handprint, turning it into a flower, and then drew grass all along the bottom of the paper. To the white thumbprint, she used a black marker and turned it into a bunny, adding ears, a face, whiskers, and a tail. The yellow fingerprints became little chicks with wings, beaks, and little stick legs. 

At the top of the picture, she wrote _Hoppy Easter_. Smiling at it, she knew Mulder would get a kick out of it, as he did so love corny puns. At the bottom she wrote _Love, Faith. 2020_. 

Standing up, she opened the closet and took out the frame she had purchased for it and had already cleaned. Setting the picture inside, she placed the back on the frame and turned it over, smiling as she looked at it. Putting it back in the closet until tomorrow, she cleaned up the markers, and turned off the light. 

Putting Bella in her kennel, with a few good night pets, she headed upstairs to bed. 

______

“Mama. Mama. Bell. Dada. Up.” 

Scully opened her eyes to the sound of Faith speaking through the monitor. She smiled as she stretched and listened to her calling for them. 

“Third choice,” Mulder said behind her. “She even asked for Bella over me.” Scully laughed and turned over to look at him, and he shook his head with a mock heavy sigh. “Third choice, Scully.” She laughed again and snuggled close, wrapping her arm around his waist. 

“Well, you're _my_ first choice. Does that count for anything?” she teased, as he put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. 

“I _guess."_ He sighed again, and she pinched him, causing him to yelp. 

“Mama. Up. Mama,” Faith said again and he whined. 

“Oh, stop it,” she said with a giggle, kissing his neck as she pulled away from him, and got out of bed. 

Walking into Faith’s room, she found her lying sideways on her back, her feet up on the wall through the crib slats, as she continued to talk to herself. When she heard Scully’s voice, she turned over and scrambled to her feet with a huge smile. 

“Mama,” she said, her arms out. “Up.” 

“Good morning, my sweet girl,” she said, lifting her out of the crib and squeezing her tight. “Let’s change your diaper and we’ll go see Daddy.” 

“Dada.” 

“Yes!” They heard Mulder say from the bedroom and Scully laughed. 

Changed and redressed, she brought her into their bed, Mulder reaching for Faith as she was set down. She crawled over to him and he pulled her up to lay on his chest. She put her head down and he stroked her hair, as Scully grabbed her phone to take some pictures. 

“I was sure she was going to ask for Bella,” he said with a wink to Scully, who shook her head with a smile. 

They all went downstairs a few minutes later, Mulder in front as Faith held onto the railing, going down the steps one at a time, as Scully followed behind. 

“That’s it. You got it, sweetie. Hold on and take your time. Good girl,” Mulder said, grinning at her. 

They made it down and he lifted her up, spinning her around, kissing her all over her face. She laughed and Bella barked excitedly in her kennel. 

“Bell,” Faith said, pointing at her and then looking at Mulder. “Out.” 

“Her vocabulary is expanding every day. I love to hear it,” he said and Scully agreed. “I’ll take Bella out and then we can eat, okay? Do you want to come outside with me?” 

“Out,” she said with a nod. 

“See?” Scully said with a grin. “She wants to be with you, you big baby.” 

“Ha!” he answered as he Faith and opened the kennel. Bella licked them both with her usual happy body wiggle. “Or it’s because I’ve got _Bell_ with me.” 

“Shut up and take her outside,” she said, shaking her head with a smile. 

“All right, let’s go ladies.” He opened the door and stopped as Bella ran out. He called Scully over and when she joined him, tears filled her eyes at what she saw. 

On the porch, sat a large pink Easter basket filled with items, wrapped in cellophane, and Faith’s name written on an envelope with a bunny on it. 

“That’s Skinner’s handwriting,” Mulder murmured and she nodded in agreement, wiping at her eyes. “Those two…” He shook his head as he reached for it and sighed. 

“Wait,” Scully said. “I know they were most likely cautious, but let us be so as well.” She took out two gloves and slid them on, grabbing the basket and setting it to the railing as they stepped out onto the porch. 

“I wonder when he did this,” she said, reaching for the card and opening it. “ _Happy Easter, little one. Didn’t seem right to not get you something, despite what’s going on in the world, so here’s a few gifts from Uncle Walter and Auntie Rachel. Everything has been sanitized and wrapped while we wore gloves and masks. We love and miss you.”_ Mulder…” She took a shaky breath and used her shirt to wipe her eyes. 

“Well, Faithy… you really are a very loved little girl. We will need to call them later,” he said, emotion in his voice. She nodded and let out a breath. 

“I’ll take this inside and unwrap it. Throw the ball for Bella for a few minutes, get some of her energy out. I’ll bring Faith her milk,” she told him, carrying the basket inside and setting it on the floor. 

Setting the card on the table, she took out some scissors and cut the cellophane off and threw it away. Looking at what was inside the basket, she shook her head with a smile. A couple of books, some large toddler sized crayons, a coloring book, snacks they knew she liked, a puzzle, and a few plastic Easter eggs. There was also a bag of dark chocolate eggs and a bag of sunflower seeds with a note that read: _For Mommy and Daddy._

Shaking her head again, she took off her gloves, threw them away, and washed her hands. Taking out a disinfectant wipe, she wiped the handle and the bottom of the basket, before setting it on the table. She looked over at the front door and saw Mulder holding Faith and throwing the ball for Bella. Seeing her window of opportunity, she hurried into the office and took out the picture for him, setting it on the table, with a candle behind it to hold it up. 

She filled Faith’s cup with milk and brought it out to her, then went back inside to get breakfast ready. As she finished mixing the batter for pancakes, the door opened and Bella rushed in to get some water. Scully turned with a smile to greet them and instead she gasped in surprise. 

Mulder was walking toward her with two vases of an assortment of wildflowers in his hands and a smile on his face. Faith walked in front of him, holding her cup of milk in her hands. 

“What? Where did you get those? You didn’t go out to a shop?” she asked, walking toward him and he shook his head. 

“No. I wouldn’t have done that.” 

“Then where… down the road,” she said with a smile as it came to her, and he nodded. 

“And up the hill,” he added, and she shook her head. 

“When you went on your run? And you hid them in the shed?” she asked and he winked with a nod. “Sneaky man. I love them.” Placing her hands on his chest, she raised up to kiss him. 

“Speaking of sneaky, what is this?” he asked, as he set the vases on the table. 

“Faithy, want to show Daddy your present for him?” she asked, picking her up and sitting down at the table as Mulder joined her and picked up the picture. 

“Uh oh,” Faith said, pointing at the picture and Scully laughed. 

“What?” he asked. 

“That’s what she said when I painted her hand to get the handprint for the flower,” she explained with another chuckle. “Her hand was covered in paint and she showed it to me, and said _uh oh_.” He chuckled with her and stroked Faith’s face. 

“ _Hoppy Easter_. Like a bunny. I love it.” 

“Of course you do,” she said, rolling her eyes with a smile. 

“It’s a very beautiful _uh oh_ ,” he said, with a kiss to Faith’s head. “Thank you, Squatch. Now it’s your turn. Here, honey.” 

He pulled the basket Scully had filled last night closer to her and let her examine it. She reached for the goldfish crackers first, and handed them to Mulder. 

“More,” she said and signed for them. He laughed and opened them, letting her take one from the bag. She shoved it in her mouth and wiggled her body. 

“I should wash my hands,” he said, handing her the bag of crackers. “I rinsed them outside, but I should wash them.” He stood up and went to the sink as Faith ate a few more crackers. 

“How about this, my love?” Scully asked, taking the pink bunny from the basket. “It’s a bunny. A pink bunny.” She handed it to Faith and she stared at it and then hugged it, before staring at it again. 

“Buh-e,” she said, looking at Scully, and lifting the bunny. “Buh-e.” 

“Yes. A _bunny_. Such a good girl,” she said, holding her close, a smile on her face. 

She discovered the eggs and then Scully set her down so she could find the others around the room. Breakfast forgotten for the time being, they all went on an egg hunt, even rescuing one from Bella who had already chewed most of it, causing Mulder to check her mouth for green plastic pieces. Shaking his head, he tossed the egg in the trash and washed his hands again. 

“Whatever we missed, we’ll see again soon, I’m sure,” he said with a sigh and Scully laughed with a nod. 

Her phone rang, and then the iPad. Mulder grabbed it and the basket off the table, joining them on the living room floor. Pushing the green accept button, they saw Walter and Rachel waving happily to them. Faith stood up and peered closely into the screen, causing them all to laugh. 

Excited words tumbled out from both parties, everyone happy to see each other. Faith smiled at them and waved, looking close at the screen a few times. She opened her gifts and looked in amazement at all of them, spending a long time looking at the book with animals, and they all smiled as they watched her. 

Despite the happiness, there remained an undercurrent of worry in everyone’s eyes and the way they would sigh heavily at times. For a little while however, that was pushed to the background as they did something _normal_ , in spite of their distance from one another. They teased, laughed, and caught up, happy to know there was another out there, in a world that for the moment, felt so small and isolating. 

They would get through this by being apart, and next year they would all get together. 

With a large basket full of brightly colored dyed eggs. 

And a ham. And mashed potatoes. 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, I loved writing this story. I seriously love writing them as a happy family. Maybe it's not EXACTLY how the show itself would have gone, but they are happy, whole, and together, and they deserve that. 
> 
> God, do they ever.


End file.
